Four Angolan NGOs, including one affiliated with the Catholic Church, on Tuesday urged Lionel Messi and his Argentina national team not to play in Luanda in November following the deaths of 30 people in protests last month against rising fuel prices.

The Angolan Football Federation announced after a visit by its president to Buenos Aires on April 30 that a match against the world champions had been arranged to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the southern African country's independence.

Although the Argentine Football Association (AFA) reported the visit, it has not yet confirmed that the match will take place.

Looting particularly affected Luanda on July 28 and 29 when a taxi drivers' strike against rising fuel prices escalated in the oil giant.

According to the Angolan police, thirty people, including one of its members, died in the violence, which the same NGOs denounced as "summary executions" by the security forces.

"This serious social crisis is occurring in a political context marked by systematic repression of citizens expressing critical opinions," accuses this collective of NGOs led by the Justice and Peace Commission of the country's Catholic Bishops' Conference, in an open letter addressed to the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner and the Argentine federation.

In the clashes, more than 270 people were also injured and 1,500 arrested, according to the police.

"Investing millions of dollars in a sporting event when thousands of people are suffering from hunger, when hospitals are collapsing and when repression is increasing is not a legitimate priority, it is an insult to human dignity," these organizations admonish, calling on the "Pulga" to carry out a "courageous, ethical and humanitarian act" by demanding the "cancellation" of this match.

A third of Angola's 36 million people live below the poverty line, according to the World Bank.

The MPLA, which has ruled the country since independence from Portugal in 1975, is facing a challenge fueled by runaway inflation -- around 20%, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) -- and persistent unemployment of nearly 30%, according to the National Institute of Statistics (INE).